The Hunger Games: 68
by StellaJade
Summary: This is my friends first FanFic on the Hunger Games. It's about a girls second reaping on the 68th Hunger Games. She lives in District 4 (obviously) and I hope you like it. I will post the next chapter after I get a couple reviews soo, review PLEASE!


_My friend wrote this and I wanted to see if you guys like it! No hard comments, she'll kill me if she finds out I posted it. _

The year of the 68th Hunger Games has arrived more quickly than any other I can remember. It's my second year of having my name put in the Reaping bowl, which is to say I'm 13. My home, District 4, hasn't seen a tribute come back alive for three years. Not since Finnick Odair came home. Ever since then, I always have to drag my neighbor, Annie Cresta, out of her house. I guess she doesn't want to see another friend go into the arena. Or she now realizes exactly how close the Hunger Games is to our front doors.  
My name is Harria Dunbryll. I have short, choppy, black hair, and my eyes are a bright, oceanic blue (or so I'm told). I'm an only child, which eases my personal burden a lot. I take care of myself; my father died a few years ago, sending my mother into a deep depression, which has since sent her mind off the deep end. I had to come up with a clever lie to excuse her absence from work, which was simple. The problem is maintaining my lie with Peacekeepers breathing down our necks.  
My lie is that, a few nights after a Peacekeeper delivered the terrible news of my father's untimely demise, my mother had killed herself. So, of course, I had to hold a proper funeral service for my supposedly dead mother, then keep her inside for the rest of her life. It's not a simple task. She's lost all of her wits, and tends to wander around the house aimlessly. I have to block all of the windows and keep her away from unlocked doors so that she won't be spotted or escape. I have to look after her, as well, which serves no easier. I had to teach her to bathe herself, and still have to supervise her, to make sure that she doesn't try to drown herself. Watching your unstable mother bathe is not pretty.  
There's a market near our house with a kind fishmonger, who gives me extra rations out of pity, unknowingly providing me with the extra food my mother needs. I have to force her to eat it, which is always a struggle, as she's convinced I'm trying to choke her to death with fish. Whenever I manage to get some into her mouth, she spits it out. In addition to all of that, I now have to lock her inside the house and head over to Annie's to prepare for the Reaping.  
Which is today.  
Annie's mother provides me with a dress she describes as "mermaid-style," colored a pale blue, similar to the daylight sky. I put the dress on without hesitation. Once it's on, however, I realize it's much too tight. I tell her this, to which she replies, "It was designed for Capitol women." That explains everything. People in the Capitol are wild dressers, donning clothes with crazy patterns that constrict them to a state where they can't walk or breathe properly.  
She then leaves the room to assist Annie. To be perfectly honest, "assist Annie" means "force Annie." I turn to look in a mirror, a sight never seen in my house. My mother would always stare transfixed into mirrors, perhaps thinking that she could walk through and become what she once was: a healthy and whole human being. I decided that it probably wasn't helping the situation of her deteriorating mental health, so I locked all of the mirrors up in a closet.  
My face is gaunt, and I have dark circles under my eyes. I always look this way, though, so I'm not appalled; instead, I laugh, thinking what Lilac Summers would say if she saw me. Lilac Summers is a prissy, snobbish blonde with outrageously bright green eyes, a common sight down at the market. She's only 2 years older than me, but she thinks she's supreme ruler of Panem just because she's the mayor's daughter. Her brother, Alata, is much less uptight, and certainly more humble.  
He's 12, with hair roughly the same color as wet sand, and brown eyes. This is his first year in the Reaping, and I sincerely hope he isn't chosen. He's a nice boy. But the Reaping isn't based on how wonderful a person someone is. If it were, Finnick wouldn't have gone at all.  
Annie's mother emerges fifteen minutes later with only a few scrapes and bruises. I'm surprised; last year, it took her half an hour to get Annie into a dress, and she had come out with many bite marks on her arms. Annie's normally a quiet girl, but she's absolutely vicious about attending the Reaping.  
I enter Annie's room after making sure Mrs. Cresta is okay. Annie's sitting on her bed, attempting to claw at the bottom of her dress. She looks up, spotting me, and waves me over. "Come look at my dress," she says cheerfully. I walk over and observe it carefully: another mermaid-style dress, seemingly less tight than mine. It's a nice blue-green color, bright to an extent that doesn't burn your eyes.  
"I like it," I reply, grinning at her. Annie stands up and looks over my dress, paying special attention to the too-tight waistline. She bites her lip in thought. I haven't a clue what about, though. With Annie, it could be anything as important as the Games to something as trivial as a funny-looking seashell.  
After a few minutes of thinking, Annie shrugs and smiles. "It looks nice. Way too tight, though." I nod in agreement, wondering how Capitol citizens manage to breathe. Surely, they must grow tired of their ridiculous, flashy costumes?  
Annie and I hang out in her room for a little while longer, discussing random things until she brings up the topic of the Reaping rather sheepishly. "Who... who do you think will be picked?" she whispers hesitantly. Her face is full of concern and fear. I hate seeing her so afraid. I wish we could be free from the Reaping, but that's impossible. In order to be out of the Reaping, you have to be reaped and sent through the Hunger Games, and make it back alive. And I know for certain that Annie and I wouldn't last in there.  
"Well, I HOPE Lilac Summers is reaped, the scumbag," I weakly attempt to joke. Annie frowns and whimpers a little. I scoot a little closer to her, giving her a firm hug. "Don't worry, Annie, neither of us will be chosen. There's lots of other girls in District 4 whose names could be pulled," I reassure her. I hope that I sound more confident than I feel.  
Annie's mother spares us from another moment of fretting as she calls us down. It's time for the Reaping to begin.


End file.
